238 



THE IBRIGATION AGE. 



Sacramento, the Convention City 



Hy J. J. Allison 



To members of The National Irrigation Congress, 

 for irrigators, and travelers in general "All roads lead 

 to Sacramento" for next September. 



If the reception given the advance guard by Messrs. 

 G. W. Peltier, chairman of board of control; W. A. 

 Beard, chairman of executive committee; H. 0. Miller, 

 secretary of the Sacramento Valley Development Asso- 

 ciation; Secretary Ing, of the Sacramento Chamber of 

 Commerce, and many others, is a criterion by which we 

 can measure the hospitality of the people of Sacra- 

 mento, the delegates and friends of the National Con- 

 gress shall want for no good at their next session. 



The homes of the residents will be at the service 

 of the visitors, and all means of making the Congress 

 instructive as well as making it the most pleasurable 

 event of the year will be used, and every facility possi- 

 ble will be employed to acquaint the strangers with the 

 resources of the different sections of the state. Over 

 $50,000 will be expended in making this the greatest 

 Congress ever convened. An exciirsion extending a 

 thousand miles through the best irrigated section will 

 follow the Congress. 



During the session of the Congress an Inter-state 

 Exposition of Irrigated-land products, forestry prod- 

 ucts, and minerals will be held, surpassing anything ever 

 attempted by any state or country. . The list of trophies 

 to be offered for competition on this ocassion will be 

 published later. These trophies come from prominent 

 men and business organizations and will draw large ex- 

 hibits. The exhibit from California alone will be sur- 

 prisingly great, outdoing the state's former remarkable 

 collections. 



The State Capitol of California at Sacramento. 



The most conspicuous and interesting feature of 

 Sacramento, outside her people, is the capitol and capitol 

 grounds, situated in the center of the city. The capitol, 

 elevated by a series of terraces, is being toned up by 

 the expenditure of $400,000. Approaching Sacra- 

 mento from any direction the massive dome can be 

 seen towering above everything else. 



The grounds covering thirty-five acres are a monu- 

 ment to the city and to the state. Nowhere outsidt 

 California could be found such an aggregation of plant 

 life, for in no other state will the soil and climatic- 

 conditions permit the growth of trees and shrubs from 

 such extremes of latitude and environment. Three 

 hundred and fifty varieties of trees from every part of 

 the world furnish a varied field of study and enjoyment 

 to the specialist and lover of nature. 



In the street parking surrounding the whole park 

 is a row of magnificent palms. Inside the curb is a 

 row of umbrella-shaped Italian pines at whose base the 

 roses, grown only in California, are in almost perpetual 

 bloom. The next concentric circle is the Deodar or 

 cedar of India, a most splendid cone-shaped tree whose 

 spring twigs of pale green set off the darker velvet 

 back-ground of an older growth under whose restful 



Fort Sutler, Sacramento, built in 1839. 



branches the youth and maiden commune in "golden 

 silence." Though "transplated far beyond the sea," 

 the Deodar has the same magic to strike the cords of 

 love under the stars and stripes as it had "On India's 

 coral strand." Kipling was in the mood when he wrote, 

 "Under the Deodar." 



Dressed in Italian form, tall and cylindrical, a 

 row of cedars follows on the first terrace, like a military 

 sentinel invading a peaceful home. An inner circle of 

 orange trees, robed in rich green, trimmed in gold and 

 white, occupies the second terrace, while on the third is 

 found a circle of stately magnolias. Interspersed with 

 all are the climbing wistaria, the olive, and numberless 

 foreign and native trees resting in a rich bed of well 

 groomed blue grass. In writing of California one must 

 constantly exclude the whole outside world. Outside 

 a limited area of the Sierras the famous redwood does 

 not grow in its native heath, and nowhere else is known 

 the "big tree" or Sequoia Gigantea. As sentinels, the 

 "big tree" is planted, one on either side of each entrance 

 way. When they grow to maturity, four hundred feet 

 high, they will be 5,000 years old. 



South of the capitol, "Memorial Ground" honors 

 the "Boys in Blue," the state and the nation. Besides, 

 it verifies the statement that California will grow any 

 plants from the temperate climate. Labeled appro- 

 priately to commemorate the battles of the Civil war are 

 growing vigorously the elm tree from Lincoln's tomb, 

 Bull Bun, Winchester, Wilson Creek, Malvern Hill ; 

 the maple from Harper's Ferry, Fredericksville, The 

 Wilderness, Ft. Donaldson, Chancellorsville, Chick- 



